Chapter 83: 83

| Litchfield County - August 3 The team rode in full motorcycle gear, trailing the trucks carrying Amazo's dismantled parts. Robin, Superboy, and Starfire followed the Manhattan-bound truck, while M'gann, Wally, Kaldur, and Joseph tailed the Boston cargo. "Do you think Superboy's okay?" M'gann asked, concern lacing her voice. "I wasn't reading his mind, I swear, but his anger was radiating off him in waves." "Surf that wave. Just give him space. Me, stick as close as you want." Wally quipped, inching his bike closer to hers. Joseph almost snorted at the unimpressed look M'gann shot Wally. "He just needs time to cool off," Kaldur reassured. "This quiet mission will help clear his head." Joseph had his doubts. Both about Superboy cooling off and about this mission staying quiet. It never was. Instead, he focused on the thrill of the ride. As a kid, he had always wanted a motorcycle. The wind rushing past him felt similar to flying, yet different—more raw, more wild. And these League-provided bikes? Advanced as hell. They even had a battle mode. Then Joseph felt it. Multiple energy sources closing in. "They're coming," he warned over comms. "Understood. Get ready to engage," Kori responded. A swarm of glowing green, simian-shaped robots descended on the truck. Aqualad stayed on his bike, wielding his water-bearers like whips to knock them away. Kid Flash and Miss Martian were forced to abandon their bikes as the robotic monkeys overwhelmed them. Joseph flipped his bike into battle mode. The front half tucked in for balance while the rear detached, transforming into a hovering drone. Sweet. He stayed on his bike, using his anti-gravity field to fly with the bike and group the attackers before disintegrating them with a blasts of Nova force from his hands. Joseph floated to the side of the truck, golden Nova bolts firing with pinpoint accuracy, picking off the robotic swarm. The drone following him also helped. Wally and M'gann had moved their fight to the top of the truck. M'gann had morphed extra arms—even one on her head—to fend off attackers, but they were still getting outnumbered. Joseph provided cover, unleashing dozens of Nova bolts to thin the horde. The robots cut a hole in the truck's roof, attempting to steal the cargo. Not happening. Joseph extended his localized anti-gravity field, locking the cargo in place. With precision shots, he destroyed the robots trying to escape with it before gently lowering the parts back through the opening they had made with his anti-gravity field. With Kaldur, M'gann, and Wally backing him up, the rest of the robotic monkeys were swiftly dismantled. "Aqualad to Starfire," Kaldur called. "Our cargo is secure. What's your status?" "We've secured ours as well," Kori responded. "But Superboy ran off chasing the robots. He ditched his comm." "He's out of my telepathic range," M'gann added, worried. "I can't find him." Joseph sighed. Of course. "How did these things know exactly which trucks to hit?" he asked. "We haven't heard anything about the decoy trucks being attacked." "I hacked into one of the robot monkeys," Robin said over comms. "The parts have GPS trackers. The robots are following the signal." "Can we track them back?" Kaldur asked. Robin worked fast. "Yeah... and it looks like they're all converging on Gotham." Wally grinned. "Who's up for extra credit? We find the rest of these things and bag Ivo while we're at it." "The mission comes first," Kori reminded him. "We need to finish the delivery and inform the League that the parts can be tracked. But we also have to make sure Superboy's okay. Robin, send the robots' location to Kid Flash and Nova. They'll track him down while the rest of us guard the cargo." "Understood," Joseph said as the coordinates popped up on his digital watch. He took off immediately. "I'll race you there," Wally said, smirking. Joseph laughed. "You'll lose though." From his observations, Kid Flash was exceptionally slower than his mentor for some reason. ** | Connecticut - August 3 "So, how'd you gain a connection to the Speed Force?" Joseph asked as he and Wally tore through the air at just under the speed of sound, side by side. It seemed to be the max speed for Wally. They had changed into their suits, Wally stating that he felt naked in civvies. To maintain the conversation, Joseph precisely controlled his anti-gravity field, keeping a bubble of air around them so they could talk without the wind interference. Wally shot him a curious glance. "Didn't know you were one for small talk. And what do you mean, Speed Force?" "You know, the force that grants you super speed while protecting you from all the nasty side effects of moving that fast. Do you call it something else?" Wally frowned. "This is the first time I've ever heard of a Speed Force. I think Flash would've told me if something like that existed." Joseph's brows furrowed. "Then how did you get your powers—if you don't mind me asking?" "I replicated the experiment that gave Flash his powers... in my garage." That explained why Wally was slower than Flash, who the internet speculated could go faster than hypersonic speeds. Either his materials weren't up to par, the procedure was flawed, or both. "Were there chemicals involved?" Joseph asked, recalling the STAR Labs truck that had spilled chemicals on him the day his mother died. "Yeah. And lightning. Flash got hit by lightning too. It showed up out of nowhere and blew up my garage." Joseph's mind raced. Lightning, huh? Was that why he himself never gained a permanent connection to the Speed Force? Because there had been no lightning?